Man pleads guilty after Ohio cop's accidental fentanyl overdose

by Associated Press

(Photo: MGN)

EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio (AP) -- A man accused of exposing an Ohio police officer to the potentially deadly opioid fentanyl during a drug arrest has pleaded guilty to assault on a peace officer and drug-related charges.

The attorney general's office says four doses of the overdose antidote naloxone were used to revive the officer from East Liverpool, nearly 85 miles (137 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland near the Pennsylvania line.

Authorities said the officer followed protocol and wore gloves and a mask when searching a car during the arrest last May, but later instinctively touched powder on his shirt without realizing it was fentanyl.

The suspect, a 25-year-old East Liverpool man, was sentenced Monday to over six years in prison.

Prosecutors say he was among 100 people charged in an investigation of a large drug-trafficking ring.